ISTANBUL 2010: DON'T WASTE THE OPPORTUNITY

After two weeks, the year 2010 has finally started in Istanbul, with a fireworks show over the Golden Horn to signal the official opening of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture.

Tarkan performed at Taksim Square; Mercan Dede did the same at Sultanahmet Square. In four other places around Istanbul, the capital’s citizens could also get a free taste of what is in store for them.

I still vividly remember an evening in Brussels in February 2006 when I was invited for dinner with the people who were in town to introduce Istanbul to the European Parliament. The parliament was going to give advice to the European ministers of culture about which three cities could call themselves European Capital of Culture in 2010. The choice for the capital outside of the EU was between Istanbul and Kiev.

To be honest, it was not really a difficult game to win. Compared to the Ukrainian capital, Istanbul is simply playing in a different league. Its equals are cities like Rome, Paris, Berlin, Vienna or London. Not Kiev.

It was a pleasant and relaxed evening. The Istanbul delegation was well prepared and had produced an impressive catalog of plans and ideas. Around the table were smart and experienced salesmen such as Egemen Bağış, then the president of the Istanbul 2010 Advisory Board, and Nuri Çolakoğlu, then the project’s coordinator and a well-connected master of many trades. Their guide through the complicated European institutions was Cengiz Aktar, known for his excellent Brussels contacts and one of the first to promote the idea back in 2000, after the EU had decided that non-member countries also could nominate candidates.

What impressed many in the Istanbul team was the unprecedented close cooperation in the Istanbul 2010 project between the national government, local authorities, civil society and the business community. Never before had so many different, and often competing, players been able to unite with one common goal in mind: to promote Istanbul. And, by doing so, to promote Turkey, in what would be the fifth year after the start of negotiations with the EU in 2005. It worked and in November 2006, Istanbul was approved as one of the three 2010 European Capitals of Culture.

Many of those positive feelings and intentions have, unfortunately, disappeared. Speaking to a lot of people over the last couple of weeks, almost nobody was excited and many were skeptical or simply extremely negative. Whether correct or not, the image of the Istanbul 2010 project is, at the moment, very bad. The dominant perception is one of poor planning, disastrous financial control, corruption and broken dreams. Although I have had nothing to do with the project since my modest lobbying activities in 2006 in the European Parliament, I must say, that hurts.

Having Istanbul as a European Capital of Culture is an opportunity that should not be wasted. Even Turkey’s opponents in the EU would admit that Istanbul offers the best way to convince indecisive and uninformed EU citizens about the European past, present and future of the country. Let us hope that in the coming months, the organizers manage to present Istanbul in such a way that both the city’s visitors and its inhabitants get a real chance to enjoy all the beautiful, sometimes unknown, sides of this glorious place.

The best way to do that, of course, is to realize all the nice plans one can find on the Istanbul 2010 Web site. But it would certainly help if the people in charge would realize that, because of all the bad vibes, Istanbul 2010 is, for the moment, something few Istanbullus are really proud of, and that it is also their responsibility to change that feeling.

TURKISHDAILYNEWS